St Croix Island

In August 1604, St Croix Island, in the middle of the St Croix estuary near modern-day St Andrews, became the first European/French settlement in Canada. The colony established by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons (with Samuel de Champlain taking notes), only survived one grim winter (half the men died), with the post relocating to Port Royal in Nova Scotia, but its symbolic significance remains. Today the island is managed by the US Parks Service and is off-limits, with an interpretive trail 13km south of Calais on US-1. On the Canadian side, around 7km north of St Andrews on Rte-127, a series of interpretive boards provides context along with a viewpoint of the island itself.